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Newent Orchestral
Society Bill's Musical Notes, January, 2010 Words, Pictures - and Music As part of the Newent Music Heritage Project, the Newent Orchestra is aiming to make use of the Memorial Hall venue for the spring concert during the day as well as the evening (15 May). We'll have some interesting exhibits on view for visitors and browsers and I'm hoping to be able during the day to play through a remarkable string quartet written by local (underrated) composer, Rutland Boughton (1878-1960). It's a fabulous, highly expressive quartet, his second and is called, "From the Welsh Hills". Written in 1923 at the height of his record-breaking opera, "The Immortal Hour", the four movements are: Landscape, Purple and Grey - From the Valleys; Landscape, Green and Gold - From The Summits; Satire and Song of the Hills. The titles are evocative; the music even more so. They set me thinking about how a description of music can sometimes enhance understanding and enjoyment of it, particularly when it evokes an image, such as those green and gold hills. Programme notes are designed to be informative but often don't go much further than that if the "imagination" element is missing. However, I also find that a little background information goes a long way. I was listening recently to some songs by Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), quite dull and boring, I thought. Then I read some background information on the CD sleeve about the circumstances in which they were written and it really brought them to life. Composers may have big philosophical ideas behind their music which you would never guess by casually listening to it. An example is John Adams', "Harmonielehre", which has a mythological basis and expresses the "Wasteland" of T.S. Eliot fame, caused by the Grail-seeking Anfortas and his wound... Knowing this information makes the music so much more interesting. But there is even more than this. I have some music by Transylvanian modernist composer, György Ligeti, which, incidentally, was used for part of the soundtrack to the classic Kubrick film, "2001, A Space Odyssey" (Ligeti's music was similarly used in Kubrick's "The Shining" and "Eyes Wide Shut"). The sleeve notes on that particular CD seemed pretty incomprehensible to me, so no clues there. To get a handle on this weird music, I closed my eyes and allowed it to create pictures in my mind and was quite amazed at what cropped up. Once the images had materialised, apparently impenetrable music became meaningful and enjoyable. It's worth noting in this context, that linking Ligeti's music as a sound track to the cosmic images of "2001" made it instantly accessible to the ear. There seems to be a strong relationship, for me at least, between words, images and music and if you haven't thought about this, it could help you to appreciate music that may not have been within your compass or accessible to you before. Bill Anderton, January, 2010 You can receive the Newent Orchestra's monthly email newsletter, including these "Musical Notes". Just ask to be added to our mailing list by emailing your request to info@newentorchestra.org Previous "Musical
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